In a market with a million T-shirts, a New Orleans brand offers something different than the usual synthetic, cotton, or merino-wool shirt.
Tasc Performance Apparel makes shirts and base layers through a previously unheard-of process and in a unique location.
Using bamboo cellulose as a base material, the company blends organic cotton, polyester, merino wool, and other fibers to make proprietary fabrics for fitness and the outdoors.
The result is a different kind of apparel. I tested multiple pieces from Tasc for this review.
Tasc’s performance shirts, including the Hybrid Fitted T that I reviewed this fall, are soft, stretchy, comfortable, and good-looking.
Review: Tasc T-Shirt
The company touts the Hybrid Fitted as having UPF 50+ sun protection. It costs $36 and is a part of the brand’s MOSOtech line, which use fabric made of organic cotton, bamboo, and 5% Lycra.
The shirt is wearable during high-output activities. I biked, ran, and climbed in the Hybrid Fitted. I wore it for six days straight, too, for a stink test.
Tasc fabric feels different from any other performance top in my closet. It’s a bit thicker and softer than most merino-wool pieces I use for activities. Compared to synthetic shirts made of polyester, the Tasc fabric has a natural feel against the skin.
When wet from sweat the fibers have a semi-hydrophobic quality and don’t gain much weight. The shirt does not stick to skin.
Despite the sweat it did not stink — I simply hung the shirt up each night to air out, and its natural antimicrobial facets seemed to do their trick. This means less laundry is required at home. For travel, this is a shirt set for wearing multiple days in a row.
Bamboo Fabrics and Beyond
The Hybrid Fitted is one product among a few dozen Tasc sells. The company has casual clothes, yoga-wear, and a product line with merino wool as a primary component, all blended with bamboo.
The material comes from India. Tasc’s founders have been in the textile business for 60 years, and over that time have developed a partnership with a family-owned mill.
The company sources most of its material from this single facility, controlling production and sustainability components that it says are among the most stringent in the industry.
This is important, as bamboo fibers have been cited as polluters due to a caustic process used to break down the fibers.
Tasc touts a “closed-loop” system to keep chemicals contained during the manufacturing. The company says its bamboo is organic and sourced from a forest certified by the watchdog Forest Stewardship Council.
Give Tasc shirts a try if you’ve long used synthetics and are looking for a more natural top. Or, if you’re a merino-wool junkie hoping to save on apparel, the bamboo-cotton Hybrid Fitted is a functional alternative for workouts and everyday wear.
